A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to independently controlling the elements of a communications system and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for web-based control of a communications system.
B. Description of the Related Art
A legacy telephone system typically includes a number of telephone sets coupled to a private branch exchange (PBX) by physical wiring. A call server resides in the PBX and handles many different call-related functions for the telephone sets. Call control functions, service control functions, and user interface functions are typically controlled by the call server. Although several of those call-related functions can be initiated by users of the telephone sets, many are generally inaccessible. More specifically, while the call server can be controlled by a limited number of commands available to a user, many additional commands can only be issued by system administrators using restricted access interfaces.
Call control functions, such as call connection, call disconnection, and connection of the members of a conference call, are typically performed by a call server in response to a command from a telephone set coupled to the telephone system. For example, such a command could be the act of dialing a telephone number. Service control functions, such as establishing a conference call, performing last number redial, and initiating a voice mail function can be performed by a call server in accordance with a “policy” applied to a user's telephone. A system administrator controls the policy, and thus controls which services are available to a user, by issuing commands to the call server through the restricted interface. Accordingly, users have a limited degree of control over the services available to them, which can typically be expanded only by contacting the telephone system administrator.
A need exists to expand the functionality of legacy telephone systems such that users thereof have greater control over their associated call server and telephone set. Thereby, users can access greater functionality without having to communicate requests to a telephone system administrator. Such a methodology increases the usefulness of legacy telephone systems by allowing them to be highly configurable by a user.